EXT. DUSTY TRAIL – LATE AFTERNOON
LUCY, MAXIMUS, and JUNO walk side by side through the desolate landscape. JUNO follows a pace behind, quiet, listening.
LUCY
At this rate, we'll have caught up by sundown.
Hey, can I ask you a favor?
MAXIMUS
Okay.
LUCY
Can you tell me what's happened in the last 200 years?
MAXIMUS
What do you mean?
LUCY
Just the last 200 years. Like a—a quick rundown.
I know about the Great War and the bombs falling,
and the 320 years of American history before then.
I just need help with the last 200 years.
After the bombs fell.
MAXIMUS
The bombs fell when I was a kid.
LUCY
Is that what they tell you in your Brotherhood?
MAXIMUS
You're the one who grew up in a box underground.
Also, you thought you would show up to some warlord
with no armor, no help, and expect him to just
turn over a hostage to you?
Did you really think that would work?
LUCY
I had the head.
JUNO (laughs)
MAXIMUS
Yeah, but we don't even know what's in it.
LUCY
That's true.
Look, I… I come from a place where the world is what you make of it.
Okay? It's not like up here.
We're naive down there.
Up until I was six, I really thought that the big light on our farm
was the sun.
My mom used to take me to play out under that light,
and I swear I could feel the sun baking my skin.
FLASHBACK: ROSE, warm and smiling, plays with young LUCY under the simulated "sun."
LUCY (V.O.)
After my mom was gone—
JUNO (at the same time)
She made it feel real.
LUCY
—I realized it was just her that made it all feel so real.
LUCY smiles.
BACK TO PRESENT. The wind picks up around them as they walk.
LUCY (to Juno)
What about you?
You're the only one who's actually seen the world before it ended.
What was it like... before the bombs?
JUNO walks a few steps in silence. His voice is low, rough from disuse.
JUNO
It was loud. Fast.
Everyone was so sure they were building something better.
Cities glowing at night. Data at the palm of your hand.
It had its problems, but it was just life.
LUCY takes that in. The silence after is heavy but not uncomfortable.
LUCY
Do you miss it?
JUNO
Well Yes…
EXT. DUSTY TRAIL – CONTINUOUS
AHEAD — another small group blocks the trail. Uneasy. Watching.
JUNO (V.O)
Here we go
JAVIN
You armed?
MAXIMUS
No.
LUCY
Yes. We are.
JAVIN
We're just gonna walk on by.
That okay with you?
MAXIMUS
It's fine.
(quietly, to Lucy)
Give me your gun.
LUCY
What? No.
RINK
Okay, we're walking toward you.
MAXIMUS (quietly, still to Lucy)
There's no one here but us and them.
It's not safe. Give him your gun.
LUCY
They said they're not armed.
MAXIMUS
They're lying.
JUNO
Definitely.
LUCY
We are lying.
JAVIN
What's happening over there?
MAXIMUS
Just being careful. You can come on through.
RINK
Are you trying to fuck us?
MAXIMUS (quiet, urgent)
The gun.
LUCY
Okay, uh — I think we're all feeling a little tension.
(nervous chuckle)
Yeah?
A pause. A deep breath. Tension tight as a wire.
LUCY
Maybe we all just take a breath…
(another nervous laugh)
JAVIN
What the fuck are you talking about?!
A long exhale from someone — maybe LUCY. Beat.
LUCY (low, resigned)
We're gonna do this.
JUNO (V.O)
This is so stupid i swear if i die because of this
They walk toward each other. Eyes widening—
JAVIN
Hold up — they've got Pip-Boys!
In an instant — weapons are drawn.
GUNFIRE ERUPTS.
JUNO tackles LUCY down just as MAXIMUS returns fire — a clean, practiced shot. One Fiend drops instantly.
JUNO
You okay?
LUCY (breathless)
Yeah.
A second Fiend lifts his rifle, fires once — hits MAXIMUS in the arm.
Ready to fire again — but JUNO's tranq gun is already up.
He fires. The dart thunks into the raider's neck.
The man stumbles, gasps — then crumples.
+10XP
SILENCE RETURNS. Dust hangs in the air. A few distant crows scatter.
LUCY (panting, looking around)
Are they dead?
MAXIMUS (grim)
Yeah. They're done.
JUNO (glancing at the bodies)
One dead. One down. Not our problem anymore.
He walks over and kneels beside the Fiends, rifling through their pockets and belts.
He pulls out a half-broken stim, some loose rounds.
JUNO
Nothing great. Ammo, junk...
Guess it's still better than nothing.
LUCY (looking over, then to Maximus)
You okay?
MAXIMUS (gritting his teeth, looking at a bloody graze on his arm)
Still just a scratch. Happens all the time.
(He searches the other Fiends.)
MAXIMUS
Fiends. Why am I surprised?
LUCY
What are Fiends?
MAXIMUS
People who eat people.
JUNO
Jesus…
LUCY (quietly, shaken)
I hate it up here.